Syringe needles are commonly used in the medical field for extracting blood samples or injecting medication into a patient. The needles are commonly carried at the end of a hypodermic syringe barrel, a blood drawing tube, or other similar apparatus, and may include conventional removable needle covers which, once removed, are discarded. It is particularly desirable to shield the user from coming into physical contact with a used needle which may be contaminated with blood or tissue fluid which may contain infectious substances. There is a growing concern about accidental exposure to the AIDS virus, for example. The greatest hazard has been shown to be the capping or uncapping the needle with the use of the currently used needle cap. It would be desirable to provide a syringe needle with an inexpensive, simple device that would protect the user from being stuck by a contaminated needle. Various attempts have been made to shield used needles, and a representative shielding structure is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,425,120, 4,631,057 and 4,702,739. For the most part, such structures have been expensive and cumbersome and have not gained acceptance by the medical community.